


Operation: Save Marle

by Quicksilver_ink



Series: Let's Save the Future! [1]
Category: Chrono Trigger
Genre: Comedy, F/F, Getting Together, Matchmaking, Not Canon Compliant - Chrono Cross, Post-Canon Fix-It, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-20 16:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17025927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_ink/pseuds/Quicksilver_ink
Summary: When Lucca learns from future history that Marle is destined to die in only a few years, she vows to change the course of history and save her friend.By setting her up with as many cute girls across the timeline as she can find!...this plan may have made more sense in her head than it does out loud.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SkyWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrites/gifts).



> Happy holidays, SkyWrites! Thanks for giving me an excuse to revisit Chrono Trigger -- both the game and the cast!

Roughly twenty-three hours before Lucca learned that her best friend was doomed to die in five years in a military invasion, and twenty-two and a half hours before she devised a plan to save her, Lucca was putting away the lawnmower.

It was a little embarrassing, to have finished tidying up the lawn only after Marle and Crono showed up, even if Robo wasn’t here yet. And at least she’d gotten the snack table set up first… had she labeled the drinks? She hoped she’d labeled the drinks. Otherwise Robo might dump soda down his hatch, and someone else would get a mouthful of machine oil.

“Sorry, I’m probably smelly,” Lucca said, when Marle and Crono came to hug their hellos.

“Hello to you, too,” Marle said, grabbing her in a tight embrace. “Phew, you smell like oil and grass clippings!”

Crono snorted.

“Robo’s due any minute now, through the Telpod’s Gate,” Lucca said. “It’s on the other side of the garage — remember, we brought it back here after the Millennial Fair.” Was she babbling? She was babbling. But under the circumstances, that was perfectly understandable! It had been too long since she’d seen Robo, or even Marle and Crono at the same time. 

And there was so much to show them! “That shed’s where I keep the Epoch — with the summer storms, I don’t want her getting hail damage. Oh! And over there is the new Gato Mk 2. I upgraded him so he does laundry now. And here’s the Telepod! Note that they’ve been placed exactly 2.3 meters apart, which I calculated to be the optimal distance for Gate formation.”

Even as she was talking, there was the distinctive hum of an opening Gate. The portal, originally a small blue orb, expanded to a ball of the mesmerizing purple and blue swirls, and Robo emerged.

“So, how’s life in the new future?” Marle asked after the group had traded hugs and sat down, lounging comfortably in the soft grass around the snack table. 

“Everything is much healthier — humans, animals, plants. Even the oceans and air. In the old Future, they were polluted not only because of Lavos’s feeding on the planet’s energy, but because the destruction he wrought left humans dependent on old technology. Without Lavos, humans have made great strides.”

“That’s great! I can’t wait to see it.” Marle turned to Lucca. “Can we take the Epoch and go visit Robo in the new future sometime?”

“Of course! Whenever you’re free. My schedule’s wiiiide open.” Lucca threw her arms apart for emphasis. “I know you’re busy with the princess stuff, but I can be ready at the drop of the hat when you’ve got time. Same goes for you, Crono, since I know Melchior keeps you pretty busy.”

Crono saluted, and turned back to Robo.

Marle winced. “Yeah. There’s been a lot of that lately. Sorry, Lucca, I know we were gonna meet for lunch last week… and I know I can only stay until four today…”

“No, no, it’s okay! It’s important, right? You’re gonna be queen someday. Getting ready for that takes a lot of work. And Crono’s got to leave at the same time.”

“…yes, but only for exercise, or historical reenactment,” Robo said, apparently answering a question of Crono’s.

“What was that, Robo?” 

“Crono was asking if people still use swords in the new future. But it is mostly for martial artists and hobbyists. However, people still use them for many centuries after your present, so there are many new designs and construction techniques that were developed.”

“Huh. So I guess crossbows are completely out, since target shooting isn’t really exercise, even if it’s fun.” Marle mused. “How _do_ people fight? Stuff like Lucca’s Wondershot?” She made little finger guns and waved them. “Pew, pew!”

Robo laughed, a little descending trill of beeps. “They don’t need to. There is no war. Everyone — humans, mystics, robots — is at peace. There are sometimes dangerous animals, but there are better ways to handle them than killing them.”

Lucca smiled as Marle and Crono peppered Robo with questions, and Robo answered. It was fun to watch her friends be enthusiastic, especially Marle. The princess’s blue eyes shone with curiosity as she asked Robo question after question about how the governments worked (apparently there were no more kings or queens, people picked their leaders by a vote, like you would use in a group of people to decide what to have for lunch!), how the world came to be without war, and what percent of the population was involved in farming.

Crono mostly asked about swords. Other things, too, like if Doan and his family were happier, but mostly swords.

What Lucca wanted to know was mostly technical stuff that would bore her friends, so she was saving her questions until later, when Marle had to go back to her duties back at the castle, and Crono had to go back to his chores as Melchior’s apprentice.

Robo had questions for them, too.

“Marle. Your birthday is coming up soon?”

“Yes! My seventeenth. It’s kind of an important one for royals.” She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. “There’s a boring legal ceremony and stuff, but I was hoping to have a party afterwards with everyone.”

“I would love to attend your next birthday party.” Robo’s eyes, already illuminated, glowed a little brighter. “I am sure I can find a good surprise to bring with me.”

“You don’t need to bring anything!” Marle reassured him. “Oh, and Atropos is welcome to come, too!”

“I will convey the invitation. I am sure she will be delighted.”

They talked a bit more about Marle’s party — should there be balloons? Streamers? What kind of food? Crono suggested fireworks, which Lucca immediately volunteered to supply, before being overruled by Robo. 

“The ones in my time are much safer and have minimal environmental impact,” he explained. “Please, Miss Lucca, allow me to provide them.”

But all too soon, the gears in Lucca’s wristwatch had moved the hour hand past four. “Hey, Crono, let’s put those bulging muscles of yours to good use. Help me put the table away.”

She stacked the empty snack bowls in each other and cleared the table. Crono lifted the now-empty table easily and headed towards the house. Marle ignored this impressive display of strength, opting instead to ask Robo a question about pollution laws in the future.

When Lucca and Chrono came back out, Marle and Robo and finished their conversation about laws and things, and were hugging goodbye.

“Thanks. I promise I’ll think about it carefully,” the girl was saying.

“That’s fine. And… take care, Marle.” Robo stepped back. “Crono. I wish you the best of luck with your training.” 

The four finished their goodbyes, and Marle and Crono took their leave.

Lucca watched them walk away, feeling a little melancholy herself. Everyone was so busy now — Marle with her duties, Crono with his apprenticeship. She’d grown up best friends with Crono, played with him almost every day when they were kids. When Marle showed up, setting off their adventures traveling through time and fighting Lavos, they’d all lived in each other’s pockets during their adventures. And now, three months later, they didn’t even see each other once a week. This afternoon, for a few wonderful hours, it had been like old times again.

When Marle reached the the bridge connecting the Ashtear’s island to the mainland, she turned around. “LUCCA! ROBO! I’LL SEE YOU BOTH AGAIN SOON!” she shouted, waving both her arms. 

Her heart somehow a little lighter, Lucca stood up and waved back. “MARLE! CRONO! WE’LL SEE YOU TOO!”

Then Marle ran ahead to join Crono crossing the bridge, and soon was lost from view. That left Lucca alone with Robo in the late afternoon sun.

“So!” Lucca rubbed her hands together. “Have I got a lot of questions for you! First of all! Can I take a look at your knees? They look new!”

Robo beeped, chortling. “Why am I not surprised. Shall we go inside?”

Once inside the large open workroom of Lucca’s house, it was easy to fall into old habits. At Robo’s request, Lucca ran a quick diagnostic from her computer terminal, cleared his fan vents (they’d always gotten clogged with Mystery Muck when he passed through a Gate, and apparently today was no exception), and oiled his left shoulder (it tended to squeak) before taking a look at his knees. 

“The design is super slick,” Lucca marveled, inspecting them from every angle while Robo hummed companionably. “And this material…” She whistled. “There’s not even the faintest scratches. If I hadn’t seen you walk around this afternoon I’d swear they’d just been installed and were never used.” 

“Yes. There have been many technological advances made in the thirteen centuries since I was first assembled. Particularly in the area of materials science. My body has also received numerous upgrades.”

“Yeah, I thought some other stuff looked a little different. It makes sense, though, since your manufacture date was before the Day of Lavos- wait. Did you get upgraded once you went back to your time after we beat Lavos, or-”

Robo’s head swiveled to follow her, a full 180 degrees. “When I returned to the year 2300, I discovered my body had changed. It was… disorienting, at first, but I adjusted quickly.” 

“Disorienting is a good word,” Lucca said wryly, looking at Robo with his head on backwards. “I guess we should’ve realized that would happen. When you change stuff that’s in past, your own past gets changed as well. Even your physical existence — like what happened with Marle when Leene went missing.”

Robo made a beep of agreement. “The contents of my databanks were not affected, only my body itself. Apparently I had spent the past decade working in a manufacturing plant. Everyone was very worried when it seemed I suddenly did not remember what had happened yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to soon download the information I was missing, and the others accepted it as a momentary glitch.”

“Still, that sounds kind of tough. You’ve got a lot of new information to assimilate.”

“I suppose.” Robo hummed thoughtfully. “Miss Lucca. I see you have a computer terminal from the old future.”

“Ahahah. Yep. You got me,” Lucca admitted, a little sheepish. “I figured that since we were changing the future anyway, it wouldn’t hurt if I, uh, borrowed some stuff from the Keeper’s Dome. I should’ve taken a closer look at the power source connection when I did — turned out it was harder than I thought to figure out. I only got it up and running last week.”

“Then here.” A panel in Robo’s torso opened, and he withdrew a small object. He placed it in Lucca’s palm.

She inspected the object. It was flat and about an inch square, mostly something plastic-like, but with tiny metal prongs that were faintly visible along the edges. “A memory chip?”

“I have copied a few selections from encyclopedia articles for you. They deal with the history — and future — of Guardia. You do not need to look at them. You can destroy the chip if you want. But….” Robo made a faint whirring noise, his version of a human’s “um”. “It is there. If you would like to know.”

Lucca closed her hand around the chip. “Wow. For once I don’t know what to say.” This tiny chip held the knowledge of the future — would it tell her about Marle’s reign? Who she married? That thought was a little uneasy, so Lucca shoved it aside. Right. What could it tell her about Crono — did he become a famous weaponsmith with Melchior’s training? 

Lucca didn’t really wonder so much about her own future. She was pretty sure it would be full of cool discoveries and amazing inventions, no matter what the history books said. She was already pretty used to the people of Guardia ignoring her awesomeness.

It would be pretty cool if there was an article in there about the Telepod, though.

Oh, right, questions about future tech. “So what do they call the stuff your knees are made out of, anyway? Is it a new element, or a new alloy, or a new process, or —” 

Robo laughed, but did his best to answer those questions, and all those that followed.


	2. Chapter 2

Eleven days later found Marle and Lucca in the prehistoric era.

“…and there would be ice cream, and a big cake, and a lot of food, and music to dance to. And I was thinking we could have all our friends come, you know, you and us and Chrono and Robo and Frog, and even Magus if he wants. And I was hoping you’d be okay with us having it here.” Marle let out a deep breath and sat back, waiting.

Lucca, seated by Marle’s side on a log, watched Ayla as Marle talked. The prehistoric woman who was Marle’s three-million-plus times great grandmother sat on a rounded rock, arms and legs crossed, and her face had been serious when Marle first began her birthday-party proposal. (Lucca had carefully done the math on it once, taking into account as best she could the varying average ages of mothers and even more varying ages of fathers over the many eras of human history, but after discarding insignificant figures, it hadn’t turned out all that differently from “divide 65,001,000 by 20 and round”.) 

Ayla had kept a stern look on her face as Marle ran through her plan, was already answering with a wide grin. “Of course Ayla host Marle birthday party! Big party time! Plenty food, music, dancing. Ayla not know cake, though. Animal? Plant? Made from bugs?”

“A cake is a special dessert from our time. Same with ice cream,” Lucca said. “There’s no bugs in either of them. Or eyes in ice cream,” she added hastily.

Marle nodded. “The castle chef from our time would be really upset if he didn’t get to make it. So we’d bring that. Oh, and we’d bring stuff from other times — Leene promised us some fancy wine. That’s, um, firewater.”

Ayla had looked a little disappointed, either at the lack of bugs or eyes, Lucca wasn’t sure, but she brightened at the last, jumping to her feet. “Firewater mean drinking contest! Very important for party. Ayla challenge Crono!”

“Sounds great! Thank you so much, Ayla!” Marle climbed to her feet and hugged Ayla enthusiastically.

Ayla hugged her back, lifting her many-generations-descendant up and swinging her around. “Marle have plenty fun birthday! Ayla promise!”

Lucca watched them both, watched Marle, laughing and happy and _alive_ , and felt her chest tighten with a terrible mix of grief and hope. She slid a hand into her pocket and closed it around the memory chip there. Her plan would work. It _had_ to work. 

* * *

“So, why 600 AD?” Marle asked the next week, when Lucca took her on the first planned outing. “I mean, I appreciate you helping me get some fresh air. I’m just wondering why 600 AD, since the weather’s so nice today in the present.”

“Technically it’s 601 AD now,” Lucca said, eyes fixed on the path in front of her as she brought the Epoch in for a landing in a patch of sand not far from Fiona’s house. The actual moment the wheels made contact with the ground was nearly undetectable. _Yes_ , she mentally crowed. A good landing was probably a good omen. “And it’s because I thought it would be nice to see Fiona and help out with some of the reforestation project.” She couldn’t very well say she hoped Marle hit it off well enough with Fiona’s sister that she’d be willing to leave Guardia when Porre invaded in 1005. 

“We’re four centuries in the past and you’re correcting me on which exact year it is?” Marle said, clearly amused. “Lucca, you’re an incredible…”

“…genius?” Lucca supplied in the gap Marle left. She fluffed her hair. “Naturally!”

“I was going to say nitpick.” Marle bopped her gently on the head. 

Lucca stuck out her tongue, then climbed out of the Epoch. Once out, she offered Marle a hand down. Marle’s smile was as warm as the hand that closed around Lucca’s own as she hopped down.

 _Of course this will work_ , Lucca told herself. _Who could resist Marle's smile?_ Surely Fiona's sister wouldn't. And hopefully Marle would take a shine to her, too. 

Marle nudged her. "Look, someone's coming!"

Three figures were already approaching them: two human, one mechanical.

“Marle! Lucca! Thank you so much for coming today.” Fiona was the first of the three to reach them, trailed closely by the second woman. “This is Pomona, my younger sister. She lives in Dorino.”

Pomona stepped forward. “Hi,” she said, ducking her head shyly, so that her wheat-gold hair fell forward, hiding her face a bit. “I’m very pleased to meet you. Fiona and Robo have told me so much about you both.”

“We’re happy to meet you, too, Pomona.” Lucca offering her hand. Inwardly she was cheering. Pomona was just as pretty as Fiona had said. And if she was shy, well, Marle was friendly, and fun, anyone would warm up to her in a jiffy, right?

Pomona seemed to shrink away from Lucca’s offered hand. 

Marle, the fun and friendly girl, elbowed Lucca. “Sorry, Pomona, Lucca just came from her the workshop. Sometimes she forgets to wash off all the engine grease.”

Baffled, Lucca shot Marle a look, but then the third figure reached them, and she let it go. “Robo, you old bucket of bolts! How’s it going?”

“Very well, Miss Lucca, Miss Marle. It’s been quite a while! How have you two been doing?”

“Wait, Robo, we saw you just last week,” Marle said, confused.

“Ah!” Robo’s eyes glowed. “That must be myself in four hundred years. Wonderful! Is the forest doing well?”

“It’s super big! And really green! Speaking of… Lucca said we’re helping you today?”

And indeed they were, just as Lucca had planned. Fiona showed them a small, tilled field. There was a tidy collection of potted seedlings gathered nearby, a stack of empty pots, a heap of dirt, and a number of shovels.

“Lucca, you and I are going to transplant seedlings from pots to this field. Marle, you and Pomona are going to plant new seeds in the emptied pots. And then Marle…” Fiona hesitated. “Lucca says you have… magic to freeze things? Is that right?”

Pomona shrunk back behind her sister. “Like a Mystic?” 

“Lots of humans can learn magic, actually,” Lucca cut in quickly. She straightened her glasses and cleared her throat. “Thousands of years ago, there was an entire society that developed an unfortunate caste system based on it, with magic-users being the most valued members of society. And Magus-”

“What do you want me to do with my Ice magic, Fiona?” Again, Marle was redirecting the conversation for no reason that Lucca could see. Oh, well.

Fiona smiled. “We’re going to trick some seeds. It’ll seem like winter if we freeze the dirt they’re planted in. Then, when things warm up, they’ll think it’s spring.”

Fiona demonstrated first how to replant a seedling in the small field. Then, she had Pomona show them how to properly fill a pot with stones and dirt, and plant a new seed. The girl’s nervousness seemed to evaporate when she had her hands on the soil, her face relaxing as she focused on her task.

“Marle, you’re up next,” Fiona said. “Let’s see what magic can do!”

Pomona flinched visibly. Fiona looked at her sister and pursed her lips. “Hmm. Perhaps-”

Marle shook her head. “Let’s save that for last. It’ll be easier for me to do them all at once.”

Lucca found planting to be surprisingly hard work, with a lot of bending and straightening and carrying heavy pots full of dirt and rocks and (admittedly extremely small) trees. She’d meant to make sure the conversation could turn towards things that would show off Marle to Pomona in her best light, but somehow she was either too busy, or Marle herself changed the conversation. And Lucca couldn’t very well _tell_ Marle to stop doing that, because it would require explaining The Plan. And then to top it all off, Pomona vanished inside right as the last pots were seeded.

It was really a shame, because Marle’s magic, cast first on a single test pot, and then on the rest, was lovely to behold. Even if ice wasn’t her thing, Lucca could appreciate the sparkling blue aura that seemed to wash over everything when Marle finished the incantation, and the artistry in the crystals that she crafted from atmospheric water and pure magic.

* * *

That evening, in her room, Lucca wrote out a full report on Attempt #1. Looking it over in full, she had to admit it: her attempt to set up Marle and Pomona had been a complete bust. Huh. A bit of a surprise that she wasn’t more disappointed at such a colossal failure. 

Well, there were plenty of candidates left, plenty of chances to change the future. All lovely ladies, and all safely far away from Present Day Guardia. Thank goodness she’d remembered Marle's interest in the Naga-ette bromide! Keeping Marle from falling for Future King Guardia XXXIV (and subsequently staying to die at his side) was hard enough without knowing his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello yes I am taking liberties with plant biology here. You can use refrigeration to control germination with some seeds, but it's a little more complicated than what gets shown here.


	3. Chapter 3

Marle herself made it easy for Lucca to find an excuse to connect her friend with the next candidate, who was also in 601 AD. It seemed Marle wanted to request some Important Personal Princess Favor from Leene. 

“It’s that royal ceremony thing I’ve got to do. There’s these fussy preparations beforehand that normally the queen would help with. But…” Marle trailed off, her smile a sad one. “You know.”

“Of course I’ll go with you,” Lucca pledged. She’d have done a lot more to cheer her friend up, even if it hadn’t aligned so well with her pre-existing plans to save her friend from a horrible death in five years’ time. What a good thing she’d already done her research for this particular candidate: Leene’s maid Emmy. She had pretty brown eyes and dimples, was the right age, and according to castle gossip, had a preference for ladies and was currently single. It wouldn’t be a proper date, or even a group outing like with Pomona. But at least they’d be in the same room at the same time! Probably. “When would you like to go?”

“I’d like a little time to get ready. Leene’s sweet, but Emmy and Gladys will scold me if I show up looking like this asking for a favor.”

“You look fine to me,” Lucca assured her, then made sure to ask, “Emmy and Gladys?” 

“Leene’s maids. Gladys is the gossip. Emmy’s the one who was suspicious when everyone thought I was Leene.” Marle twisted the end of her ponytail around a finger. 

Even better! And Marle wanted to make sure she looked nice before meeting them. So Lucca was in high spirits when she picked up a presumably spruced-up looking Marle and escorted her to Queen Leene’s time. Marle didn’t seem to look any different from what Lucca was used to — but she always looked pretty cute, even when she’d been running around in disguise back at the Millennial Fair. Well, it was probably a good sign that she wanted to look nice before seeing Candidate Number Two.

They climbed the long twisting staircase up to Queen Leene’s rooms together, Lucca trailing just a little behind Marle. This rather awkwardly put Lucca’s eyes right at Marle’s butt-height. Lucca did the polite thing and looked at the ceiling instead, and wound up stubbing her toe twice.

Perhaps because of this, it was a little bit of a surprise to see how nervous Marle was when they reached the final landing. She scrunched her eyes shut and balled her hands in fists, taking a few slow, deep breaths.

“The Queen likes us. You’ll be fine,” Lucca said, coming up behind Marle to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Marle leaned back slightly, the skin of her upper back warm against Lucca’s arm. Lucca stepped back hastily and almost tumbled down the stairs.

Emmy was the one who greeted them. Lucca couldn’t see her expression around Marle, but her voice was friendly enough as she greeted them.

Leene greeted Marle with a hug. “My dear! It’s good to see you again. And you as well, Lucca.” 

They were invited inside. Lucca plopped down in the seat offered her, but Marle remained standing. 

She curtsied, despite not wearing a skirt. “Your majesty. Um. As you know, my seventeenth birthday is coming up in a few months.”

“Congratulations on approaching your majority,” Leene said, when Marle’s pause had gone on for a little too long.

Marle gulped and ducked her head. “Thanks. Er, thank you, your majesty. I would ask a favor of you. Since my mother died when I was little, I have no one to help me dress for the Seventeenth Year Ceremony. Would you-”

Leene stepped forward and hugged her. Marle went “Ulp!” in surprise. “Of course I will.”

Not wanting to intrude on what was clearly a family moment, even one separated by ten generations, Lucca quietly slipped out of the room. 

* * *

When Lucca re-entered the room, she found Marle and the Queen sipping tea and laughing. She slipped in quietly, taking a seat next to Marle.

“Welcome back, Lucca,” the queen said graciously. “Have some tea! I was just telling Marle about my own Seventeenth Year Ceremony.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Lucca said, taking a porcelain cup filled with tea. She lifted it, then squinted at the familiar design.

“It’s the same set I have in our time,” Marle told her. 

“I’d better not break it, then! Who knows what that would do to the timeline! Probably we’d have to fight Yakra again.” As a scientifically-sound joke, it was a bit of a stretch, but Marle laughed. 

Queen Leene smiled indulgently at her descendant. “I’m so glad you’ve got friends you can relax with, my dear. Do make keep making time for them. I was so busy after I turned seventeen that I let some friendships lapse — I let myself get too busy with the whole engagement business. I was able to reconnect later, but — don’t make my mistake, Marle.”

Lucca slopped tea over the side of her cup. “Engagement business?!” 

“Members of the Guardian royal family traditionally marry on their eighteenth birthday,” Leene said. “So of course finding a suitable partner by then is quite a production.”

“I don’t have to marry a noble, Daddy promised,” Marle added quickly, her voice a little too high. “He said I got to choose.”

“I had my choice of several lovely young men,” Leene added. She sighed, happily. “Although it was clear from the moment we met that my dear husband was the one for me.”

Lucca, mopping up spilled tea, darted a glance at Marle, who seemed to be very carefully looking at something on the other side of the room.

 _Dam--aged gearboxes,_ thought Lucca _. (_ It didn’t seem to right to swear in front of a queen, even in her head.) She’d expected to have plenty of time to find Marle a girlfriend, and just keep an eye on her friend in case she started swooning over Future King Crono or Future King Fritz or Future King Some Guy At The Inn. Now, it seemed, there was a deadline - an imminent one.

“How did you meet him? Marle asked, her voice still a little high. 

Lucca risked a glance at the queen, who was walking the lanes of memory with misty eyes. “It was the most romantic of things! We met at the ball held after my Seventeenth Year Ceremony. Our eyes met across the room, he asked me to dance… ah, what a happy day that was.”

 _New plan,_ Lucca decided. _Bring all the ladies to Marle’s birthday party._ If Marle took after her ancestress, then Lucca would stack the deck as much as she could. Relieved, she reached for the teapot.

“More tea?” Emmy asked, appearing suddenly. “Let me.”

Lucca let the maid fill her teacup. “Thanks,” she said. “Can I have some sugar?”

Gladys materialized and proffered the bowl of sugar lumps. “Tut, tut, where are the tongs?”

“I’ll just take the top one, no big deal.” Lucca reached a hand towards the bowl.

Emmy gasped. “Not with hands like that, you won’t!”

Lucca looked at her hands. There was a slightly grubby plaster across the back of one, from when she’d gotten a bad scratch doing Telepod maintenance. Otherwise, they looked fine to her.

Gladys took one of Lucca’s hands and inspected it, tut-tutting. “You’re Princess Marle’s retainer, but you have hands like a farrier!”

“I’m what?” Lucca asked, baffled. “And what’s wrong with them?”

“It’s a disgrace!” Emmy took Lucca’s other hand by the wrist, ignoring her protestations. “This much grease under her nails. And the cuticles. We need to do something.”

Gladys nodded. “This simply can’t be allowed to stand.”

“Um… Can I have my hands back?” Lucca looked to Marle and Queen Leene for help, but they both had a hand to their mouths, identical gestures barely hiding their smiles.

“I don’t wish to interfere with how you manage your people, my dear,” Queen Leene said, inclining her head gracefully towards Marle. “But if you wish, the talents of my staff are at your disposal.”

Marle’s eyes shone with mischief. “How could I turn down such a generous offer, your majesty?” 

“Gladys, Emmy, please, work your magic,” the queen said regally.

And so, despite her protestations that it was completely and totally unnecessary, and anyway they’ll just get covered with grease again, Lucca found herself seated in front of a basin of excessively floral-scented soapy water, one hand soaking up to the wrist while Gladys scrubbed her nails with a brush.

“That looks kind of relaxing,” Marle said, a bit wistfully.

Lucca winced as Emmy took the other hand and started poking at her cuticles with some arcane tool. “What part of this is relaxing?” 

“You can have your turn next, your highness,” Emmy promised. 

Well, that was clearly too good an opportunity for potential Marle-Emmy Bonding Time to pass up, even if it wasn’t a real date. Lucca sighed inwardly, and gave herself up to being aggressively manicured.

* * *

“Talk about impractical. These are going to get all scratched up the next time I do anything in the shop,” Lucca grumped, inspecting her lacquered nails as Marle climbed into the Epoch behind her. They were purple (Marle’s decision). The fingers around them were pink and a bit sore from all the scrubbing.

“They’ll still look nice until then,” Marle mused, admiring her own gold-painted nails. “They’re supposed to be pretty, not practical.”

“I do practical better than I do pretty.” 

Marle chuckled. “You do pretty just fine.”

Lucca’s face heated. “I didn’t mean to fish for compliments. Anyway, mission accomplished, Queen Leene’s going to help you get ready for your ceremony thingamajig, etcetera etcetera. Let’s go home.”

* * *

With the seventeenth birthday deadline looming ahead, Lucca ramped up her schedule. Week after week, she took Marle to meet one Eligible Bachelorette after another. 

In 12001 BC, they met up with the formerly-Enlightened woman Haida, who had been entrusted with the magic sapling by Melchior. According to her research (i.e., a visit to the End of Time to consult with Gaspar), Zeal courtship had involved exchanging a great number of poems, so it seemed ideal to ask Haida if she’d be willing to teach them the proper forms. Haida was delighted at the chance to share a piece of her lost culture with interested learners.

When Marle and Lucca arrived, they found a small crowd gathered around Haida, who had apparently decided to take the planned lesson and turn it into a full-fledged class.

“The most elegant form is the Suono,” Haida told her assembled listeners. “It consists of seventeen lines, this being seen as the perfect number. The first fourteen lines rhyme in pairs; the final three lines are a triplet.”

 _Less one-on-one time for Marle and Haida,_ Lucca thought ruefully. _But maybe she’ll hit it off with one of the others._ And there was another promising candidate: an Earthbound woman named Persephone. 

Poetry turned out to be an art bafflingly beyond Lucca, but Marle was clearly having fun. So that was something.

* * *

Next on the list was the Jerky Lady from 601 AD, as Lucca had mentally dubbed her. Her actual name was Elspeth. Lucca honestly hadn’t expected to find such a good candidate. Elspeth had already made her necessary mark on the timeline — she had an adorable pair of children (ages three and five) whom she was teaching the importance of sharing. She’d amicably split with her husband when she realized she preferred women, and he realized he wanted to be a lumberjack. And despite having already been married once and having two children, she wasn’t much older than either Lucca or Marle. Oh, and she was pretty, and had a wonderful singing voice. 

Best of all, when her father stepped down, she would be the hereditary village head of Porre. Marle, with all her princess training, could help support her in this role. And if Marle and Elspeth fell in love, then even a long-distance relationship could forge a stronger relationship between Porre and Guardia in this century, and perhaps even prevent the invasion down the road. (How the inter-temporal, international relationships would even work out, long-term, was a bridge Lucca figured they could cross when they got there.)

Elspeth had just put the three-year-old down for a nap when they arrived. Lucca promptly volunteered to stay and watch the five-year-old, so Marle and Elspeth could go for a walk in town. The five-year-old was quiet and friendly, so Lucca figured she could teach her about the six simple machines and keep them both busy until Marle and Elspeth returned. 

The five year old, it turned out, would not sit still, even when shown fascinating things like how mixing water with cornstarch produces a non-Newtonian fluid. The three-year-old would not stay asleep, but did like the non-Newtonian fluid. He especially liked pouring it in other people’s shoes and down his own shirt. He did _not_ like baths.

Lucca was extremely wet, moderately cornstarchy, and very, _very_ glad when Marle and Elspeth came back. It would’ve been nice if they hadn’t laughed so hard, though. 

* * *

Her attempt to set Marle on a date with Atropos in 2300 AD had been massively derailed, with both Robo and Atropos needing to be rescued from deep within a factory controlled by a differently-evil Mother Brain. It seemed that no matter what happened with Lavos, the factory AI eventually developed a desire to purge the planet of humans.

Lucca tried to give Marle as much credit for the rescue as she could, hoping that it might spark some interest on Atropos’s end. Some girls liked the whole ‘saved by a knight in shining armor’ thing, right? So it stood to reason that some girl robots would like it, too.

* * *

The only potential partner Lucca took Marle to meet in their present was in Medina village. (She had considered Fritz’s sister Elaine back in Guardia, since both were total hotties, but there was too much of a risk that Marle would meet Fritz and fall in love with him, instead. Besides, it was better to keep Marle away from potential girlfriends in present-day Guardia, in case all that did was trade a king Marle wouldn’t abandon for a queen.)

“Bernard! Cornelius! It’s been ages!” Marle asked, greeting the friendly imps after she and Lucca hopped through the Gate in their cabinet. “How are you two doing?”

“Just marvelous, dear,” Cornelius said with a wide smile. “It’s good to see you, too. Our niece is visiting, have you met before? Nagina, these two are Marle and Lucca. We told you about them before.”

“Oooh, the blonde one looks totally scrumptious!” Nagina cooed, batting her eyelashes at Marle.

“Uh, you look, um, pretty tasty too?” Marle offered awkwardly.

This was apparently the right thing to say, because within ten minutes they were talking like lifelong friends. They discussed music (”you’ve _got_ to hear Jurassic Rhythms, it’s literally the best dance music ever - wait, do Nagas dance?”), fashion (”it’s cute, but all that white is a bit blah. You need some color!”) and, to her intense embarrassment, the delectablity of Lucca (”see, if she just takes the helmet off…” “oh! Yes, with that adorable purple bob and the glasses! I could eat her right up!”)

Success! What a good thing Lucca had remembered Marle borrowing the Naga-ette bromide during their travels together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The adventures of Marle, Lucca, and Ayla rescuing Atropos and Robo can be found in the companion story, Factory Default, which dials up the riddiculousness to 11.


	4. Chapter 4

With the party only a week away, there was a lot to prepare. Thankfully, Lucca had managed to work through most of her list. All that remained was Ayla’s time.

Given that the party was going to be held in Ayla’s village, it didn’t make sense for Lucca to focus on setting Marle up with only one or two potential girlfriends from that era. Instead, Lucca had decided to ensure Marle was seen as Quite The Catch by all of the unattached women of the era, and then see if anyone caught her eye at the party.

Conveniently, Marle also wanted to visit the Prehistoric era, because she was dead set on having a legendary Jurassic Barbecue at her party, and she wanted to help hunt the meat for it herself. 

“Psst. Ayla,” Lucca said, drawing the other woman aside. Marle was still busy checking the conditions of the fletching and tips on her crossbow bolts, her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Lucca smiled fondly, then squeezed the memory chip in her pocket as a reminder of what she needed to do. Right.

“I’ve got a private question for you. A secret one,” Lucca added, just to make it clear. She still wasn’t sure if they spoke nearly the same language as Ayla, or passage through the Gates conferred some sort of subconscious translation process, or if The Entity that seemed to have arranged for their intertemporal sojourns was facilitating, or…

“Secret question?” Ayla grinned conspiratorially. “Ask, ask!”

“Right! Ahem.” Lucca coughed into her hand. “Purely hypothetically. How do your people ask each other out?” No, that was probably a strictly 1000 A.D. term. “Sorry. I mean. How do your people show off for girls they like?”

“That easy! Be strong! Ayla like strong person. Man, woman, all good.” 

“No, I mean, like-like.” Curse the ambiguity of language! Lucca felt her face heat. “You know. Romantically. A girl you think is pretty, and, and cool, and you want them to think you’re cool, too. Completely hypothetically, I mean! It’s purely a matter of academic interest.”

“Ah! Ayla understand.” She punched Lucca playfully in the arm, leaving a bruise that would last for days. “You want share tent with Marle! Hahah, Ayla right, win bet with Kino.”

Lucca waved her hands in frantic denial. “No, no, not me! I’m asking hypothetically. For a friend.” 

“For friend? If Lucca sure…” Ayla looked skeptical, then shrugged and went on. “Best choice, hunt big animal! Show strong, and also bring much meat, fur, fang, scale.” 

“…so, like what we’re about to do right now?”

Ayla grinned. “Best part of Jurassic Barbeque. Ayla get many man, many woman.”

Soon Lucca, Marle, and Ayla were tramping through the hot, humid rainforest of the hunting grounds, looking for something large enough to satisfy Ayla’s standards for tastiness, Marle’s standards for size, and Lucca’s secret quest to let Marle show off enough to attract a prehistoric girlfriend.

“How about that one?” Marle asked, pointing to an apatosaurus grazing from treetops.

Ayla waved a dismissive hand. “Long-neck? No. Old, tough meat.” 

Lucca tried next. “How about that camarasaurus?” 

“ _Long-neck_ ,” Ayla corrected sternly. “No. Too big. You want carry by yourself? Be Ayla guest.” 

It was soon apparent that the thick foliage limited their view simply too much to spot anything except for things that were much too large. Eventually, they moved to higher ground. This afforded them a much better view of the surroundings, to Lucca’s delight.

“Oh, look at that herd of triceratops!” 

“Three-horn.”

“And is that a stegosaurus? I didn’t realize they were alive in this era!”

Ayla ground her teeth. “Not stego. Plate-back!”

“Oh, _wow._ Marle, look over there!” On the plateau ahead loomed a beautifully dappled parasaurolophus, grazing placidly. It had to be a good ten meters long. On all fours, it was still twice the height of a human. “Isn’t _that_ a beauty,” Lucca whispered. “You see that crest? It’s hollow. No one’s sure what it’s for, if they used to for thermoregulation, or making sounds, or maybe identify males from females, or from other species of hadrosaurids…”

“That? Horn-head. Tasty,” Ayla opined.

“Horn-head? _Horn-head?_ ” In her outrage, Lucca forgot to whisper. “That’s a crest! Not a horn! It’s hollow! The dinosaur’s called a parasaurolophus!”

“Horn-head,” Ayla repeated stubbornly.

“Parasaurolophus!”

“Horn-head!”

“Uh, guys…” Marle said, sliding between the two of them. “Whatever you want to call it, I think it heard us.”

Lucca looked up. The parasaurolophus roared, then charged them, the ground shaking with the force of its footfalls.

“Lucca! Look out!” Marle shouted.

But Lucca felt frozen in place — the dinosaur charging, Marle and Ayla shouting. Her limbs wouldn’t respond. Why hadn’t Crono cast lightning to stun it yet?

Oh, right. Crono wasn’t here.

“Lucca!” Marle shouted again, and Lucca found herself shoved bodily aside, out of the path of the parasaurolophus. She fell to the ground, stunned, something heavy on top of her.

“Damnit,” Marle swore, trying to climb to her feet and failing. Oh, so that’s what had fallen on Lucca. “Eat this, horn-head!” The princess was still in a tangled heap with Lucca, but she had her crossbow out. She took aim, fired, and landed a shot neatly in the hadrosaur’s shoulder.

It was a beautiful shot, but it couldn’t possibly have been fatal, or even slightly incapacitating, not a small arrow like that. And as Lucca had feared, the dinosaur turned, roared once, and charged again.

Right past them.

Off the edge of the cliff.

There was a deafening crash that shook the earth, and then eerie silence.

Marle exhaled loudly. “I am so, _so_ glad I brought a bow that inflicts Chaos.” 

“Wooosh.” Ayla exhaled loudly. “So that what happen. Marle smart. Need hand up?”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Lucca, I guess I’m still sitting on you.” Marle climbed to her feet with Ayla’s help. “I didn’t hurt you by ramming into you like that, did I? I needed to get you out of the way, and it was the only way I could think to.”

“I really don’t mind,” Lucca said, still dazed from their near brush with death. “You can sit on me all you want.”

* * *

Once Lucca regained her senses, she immediately began plotting how to move the large dinosaur. Normally, Ayla’s people would butcher something this large on-site, and move it in pieces, but the parasaurolophus had fallen into a narrow ravine, which was difficult to access on foot.

The obvious solution was to use the Epoch to transport the carcass. A quick trip to 2301 AD and a favor from Robo and Atropos produced a number of steel cables that could be fixed to mounting sites on the Epoch’s exterior. 

Lucca hovered the Epoch above the dinosaur; Marle and Ayla ran around securing the cables.

“Hey, Ayla? Can I ask you something-” Marle’s voice was so muffled by the distance and Epoch’s engine hum that Lucca could barely hear it.

“Question about being chief? Ayla try and answer. But warning, Ayla no have all answers, even now.”

“You know I’m going to be chief someday, for my people. So I’m wondering… when your duty as chief _mumble mumble_ yourself?”

“—sometimes Ayla have to make hard choice, give up what Ayla want for _mumble_ of village. But Ayla part of _mumblemumblemumble_. But _mumble, mumble_ day, _mumble,_ Ayla always _Ayla.”_

Lucca couldn’t spare a hand from the Epoch’s controls to touch the memory chip she was still carrying in her pocket. Could Ayla be the one to change Marle’s fate? With so little information in the article -- not even the king's name! if only she'd had the diary it mentioned... -- Lucca had focused on removing Future King Whoever and giving Marle a reason to leave when the invasion happened. Ayla would never stay behind to die honorably-but-needlessly like the captain of a sinking ship, and had even tried to stop the Reptite leader Azala from doing just that. 

“Lucca! Try lift dino now!” Ayla’s shouts drew Lucca back to the present, or at least the present of 65 million BC.

* * *

Ayla opted to ride on the dinosaur itself, holding tight to one of the support cables and laughing loud enough to be heard over the rush of the wind and hum of the engines. As they approached the village, something suddenly swung the dinosaur, jolting the Epoch.

“Careful!” Lucca said, as Marle leaned over the side to see what happened. “I don’t know what caused that.”

“Ayla jumped off! She’s running ahead to the village.” 

“That’s crazy,” Lucca said, forgetting she was talking to a girl who had jumped through a stained-glass window to save her father.

“That’s awesome,” said the girl who had jumped through a stained-glass window to save her father. “When we get there, can I try it? You’ll need two hands on the ground unhooking stuff anyway.”

The villagers had gathered outside at the sound of the approaching Epoch; Ayla cleared them out of the way so Lucca was able to safely approach and lower the dinosaur’s carcass without crushing anyone and possibly causing a significant portion of future humans to become un-existent.

After gently lowering the dinosaur to the ground, Lucca stayed up in the Epoch, hovering. Marle slid down one of the cables to unhook things and -- hopefully! — receive a hero’s welcome from an assortment of prehistoric hotties.

Lucca parked the Epoch a ways away from the village. She figured the extra time her walk would take would give Marle extra time with her adoring fans.

When she reached the village, she was promptly mobbed.

“Lucca amazing!”

“Such big dinosaur! All at once!”

“Take me on metal dactyl ride?” 

“Wait! You guys!” Lucca tried to escape the cluster of women surrounding her. “Marle killed it! Marle’s the hero! She’s the one who hunted the big, big dinosaur!”

“Lucca bring dinosaur!” 

“Master of metal dactyl! Such strong hunter!”

“How about me give _you_ ride?”

Hopping up and down and looking this way and that, she managed to spot Marle around the shifting (and smelly) press of prehistoric fangirls. Marle was standing with Ayla off to the side. 

“Marle! Ayla! Help!”

Marle smiled and gave Lucca a big thumbs up. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”


	5. Penultimate

The morning of Marle’s birthday, Lucca parked the Epoch outside the front gate to Guardia Castle.

Marle ran out to meet her, hugging her one-armed. A garment bag was draped over the other. “Lucca! Thank you.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Lucca asked through a cloud of Marle’s hair. The princess had it down for once, and the wind blew it everywhere. It was damp, still, and smelled faintly like soap.

Marle pulled back. She looked a little embarrassed. “I know it’s silly, but I want to do this by myself. Even though it’s just going back in time to get Leene and Emmy and Gladys to help me get dressed for the ceremony.” 

Lucca thought of the red Gate that had appeared to take her back to that fateful day in her childhood. This wasn’t the same thing at all, but - “It’s okay. I get it.” She cleared her throat. “But if the Epoch has so much as a scratch on her, you’re helping me rewax her entire hull!”

“Is that a threat?” Marle’s eyes were dancing. Oh, good, she’d taken it the right way.

“It’s a promise,” Lucca retorted with a smile, then stepped back. “She’s all yours.”

* * *

The ceremony was surprisingly small, given how important Marle said it was. Lucca had expected a lot of pomp and circumstance, and a large attending crowd of ministers, soldiers, and townspeople.

Instead, Lucca and Crono were two of about thirty handpicked, official Witnesses, mostly serious-faced government officials and jurists. Before entering the throne room, they all had to sign their names down on a very official-looking parchment. Well, that explained why Marle hadn’t invited Leene, Frog, or any of their other friends from other eras. Too bad, it would’ve been funny to think of future historians trying to understand why Queen Leene’s was name in the records, or just see the fussy officials trying to get Ayla to wear modern clothing.

After signing their names, Lucca and Crono were allowed to enter the throne room, where a guard ushered them to their Official Assigned Seats.

Lucca looked around. The crowd seated in small blocks of fancy but uncomfortable chairs set out on either side of the room, all facing the throne. Lucca was glad for the relative anonymity of being in the back row, since Crono was already shifting slightly in his seat. She shot him a sympathetic smile — he’d hated sitting still since they were kids together — and then resumed craning her neck, trying to figure out the best angle to see the action up front, whenever it started.

The herald at the door announced King Guardia and the Chancellor, and the two approached the throne dais. King Guardia took a rare seat in his throne, and the Chancellor (hopefully it was the real one this time and not yet another impostor) came to stand at his right hand and exactly one step forward. There was probably some symbolic significance to where he stood, but Lucca had no idea what it was. 

A herald at the door sounded off a short trumpet fanfare, and announced the entry of “The Princess of Guardia, Marle Nadia, daughter of Queen Aliza and King Guardia the Thirty-Third, the son of Queen Meline and King Guardia the Thirty-Second, son of -”

Then Marle swept into the room in a dress like fresh snow in sunlight, and Lucca stopped listening to the genealogy.

Lucca had seen Marle all dolled up before, she was pretty sure. Well, she’d seen Queen Leene. And at this distance (10 meters, if Lucca had to guesstimate), it came to about the same thing.

But seeing Leene had never made Lucca’s stomach flip-flop like this. 

Marle proceeded gracefully down the center aisle between the two blocks of witnesses. Her chin was high, and face serene, striking a noble profile. In her gloved hands (silk gloves, white as ice, and all the way past her elbows!), she was carrying a silver scepter and a small book.

Lucca shut down very firmly on thinking about Marle’s hands in those gloves.

“- daughter of Leene, the Twenty-First Queen of Guardia, daughter of—” the herald continued.

The corners of Marle’s lips quirked up, the peaceful smile turning into a much more familiar, and playful, grin. Lucca let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Beside her, Crono sat back in his chair.

_Marle looks like a true queen,_ Lucca realized, suddenly, as Marle came to a halt before the throne. She curtsied, then climbed the steps. Lucca now cursed her back-row seat; she couldn’t see very well anymore around the heads and shoulders of the people in front of her.

“I, Princess Marle Nadia, thirty-fourth successor to the Throne of Guardia, hereby pledge myself to the kingdom, and to become the queen my people need.”

The trumpet sounded, or maybe there was a cheer from the crowds, but Lucca didn’t hear it, because Marle’s words were echoing in her ears.

_I pledge to become the queen my people need._

Crono elbowed her, and Lucca mechanically joined in the applause. She fixed a smile on her face, but behind it, her thoughts whirled unhappily. Was this where it all began? Was Marle was taking the first steps towards becoming the doomed Queen Nadia of future history? _Please, please, let my plan work. Please don’t let it be too late to change history._

* * *

The assembled witnesses were soon dismissed, and there was no time for Lucca to dwell on her worries. There was simply too much to _do_ before she brought Marle back to Ayla’s time for the party. 

Marle had left the Epoch in front of Guardia Castle. There was a note in the driver’s seat. “I think I scratched her on branches on the way in. Guess I have to help you rewax the hull after all! - Marle <3”

Crono poked her. When she looked up, he cleared his throat pointedly.

“Ah!!” Lucca rushed to fold the note and stuff it in a pocket. She was not smiling like an idiot, this was a perfectly normal smile. “Right. Sorry. Let’s go pick up your mom.”

The Epoch only seated three, and with so many attendees from all parts of time, Lucca had worked out a carefully optimized schedule for all of the trips. She’d marked all of Marle’s Eligible Bachelorettes with a star, so she could remember to tell them something nice Marle had said about them.

Lucca’s first trip was to ferry Crono and his mother back to Ayla’s time, so Crono could help Ayla finish setting things up and his mother could tut-tut over fashions these days, didn’t anyone have any self-respect anymore!

Next, Robo and Atropos from the Future, together with a canister of helium for balloons.

“Marle will be so pleased you both could make it,” Lucca said, making sure Atropos felt included. She still wasn’t sure if the rescue from Mother Brain counted the same as having Marle and Atropos go on a proper date, but there was no time to do anything about it right now.

Next stop, 600 AD, for Fiona and her husband Marco, and then Pomona and Old Robo, and then another trip for Elspeth and her five-year-old daughter (”Marle really enjoyed our visit, you know!”). 

Then Toma, who required a trip to himself because of the quantity of soda he wanted to bring. Given that he’d been perpetually strapped for cash and bumming drinks off of strangers all the other times Lucca had run into him, she was almost afraid to ask how he’d afforded this.

Next was 12,000 BC, for Haida and Persephone, and oh dear, that was another dud, because the two of them were clearly an item. Lucca was starting to get dizzy from all the g-forces as the Epoch gathered enough speed to launch itself through time, and then slow down again once it had reached its destination. 

Then 1000 AD again, on the Mystic’s island, for Melchior and Nagina (who had promised not to eat anyone, no matter how tasty they looked) and then back home for Fritz and Elaine (Marle had invited them herself; Lucca wouldn’t have risked Accidentally King Fritz if it had been up to her), and then Lucca’s own parents.

“It’s so nice that you’re doing all this for your friend, dear,” Lara said as she fastened her seatbelt. “But take care not to overdo it.”

“Overdo it? Hohoho! I don’t know the meaning of the word,” Lucca said in a strangled voice. She was definitely feeling green around the gills. 

Frog, another rare single-passenger trip, voiced a similar concern. “Thou art looking ill. Perhaps a break is in order?”

Lucca shook her head. “I’ve got too many trips and not enough time before I need to go get Marle.” 

“Then allow me to lend a hand. ’Twould be churlish of me to leave a friend to struggle.”

“I could use the help,” Lucca admitted.

Next was the End of Time, for Gaspar and Spekkio. Lucca stumbled out of the Epoch and sat herself on the cool cobblestones, leaning up against the surrounding gate.

All three disappeared into the Epoch, leaving Lucca in the silent world beyond the flow of time. It was nice here. Maybe if her plan didn’t work, she’d just kidnap Marle when Porre invaded and deposit her here. Marle would probably never speak to her again, because if Marle had decided something was her responsibility, she was going to do it come hell or high water, but that was okay. Because Marle would be safe.

And if her plan did work, well, Lucca might move here, anyway. Because it was time she faced the fact that as much as she wanted Marle safe and alive and happy and safely attached to a girlfriend, part of her was going to be unhappy if Marle was safe and alive and happy with-

With someone who-

With-

“Hey, sleepyhead! Wake up!”

Lucca who’d slumped over as she’d fallen asleep, sat bolt upright. “Marle? But-” She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Frog offered to take a few trips for me, so I waited here for him, but I guess…”

“It’s fine.” Marle held out a hand, smiling down at her. “He says he got everyone there from your list. Except us two. Let’s go to my party.”

Lucca took Marle’s hand and let her friend and, it was time she admitted it, crush, lead her to the Epoch.


	6. The Last

The party was in full swing when Lucca and the guest of honor arrived. Lucca (she’d insisted on driving, and Marle laughed and let her) parked the Epoch right on the periphery of the party, well in view of everyone but far away enough that the downdraft wouldn’t disturb the giant bonfire with the spit-roasted parasaurolophus, or blow away any of the streamers or balloons that festooned the party site.

“Marle here!” Ayla shouted, somehow managing to capture everyone’s attention. Quickly the roar of the crowd was transformed from that of overlapping conversations and laughter to cheers and applause. 

Marle put her hands to her mouth in sheer surprise.

Lucca smiled, and stepped away, melting into the crowd. She’d done her job. This was Marle’s moment, now.

The cheering died down at Ayla’s silencing gestures. She turned a hand palm-up to Marle, as if to say, “Your turn.”

Marle walked forward from the Epoch. Her first steps were shaky, but grew steadier as she grew close to the crowd. “Thank you, everyone. My friends — whether you’re my new friends, and my old friends. I’m so happy you’re all here.” She took a deep breath. “Really. From the bottom of my heart. I’m truly grateful. So… let’s all have a great time and _party!”_

The crowd cheered. Crono led the small group of 1001-AD-ers in singing Happy Birthday. Lucca joined in, feeling lightheaded and light-hearted.

Then she went to fill a plate with food. It was a party, after all, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

* * *

Evening fell, bringing a cool breeze. Lucca took Elspeth and her daughter home, since it was the kid’s bedtime, and then Pomona, since the shy girl was starting to get overwhelmed. 

When she came back to the party, the sun was completely down, although the bonfire and scattered campfires provided more than enough light. Still, Lucca found herself moving around the periphery of the party, watching Marle as she talked to Nagina, then danced with Haida, Crono, and Leene in turn. It didn’t seem like any of the secret dates had actually worked — Marle was friendly with all of them, but in the same way she was friendly with everyone else.

Lucca found she was rather selfishly relieved at that. Which was terrible — the whole point had been to save Marle from her doomed future.

She took a brief break from her pity party to eavesdrop on a very strange conversation between the two Robos. With the two of them side-by-side, it was easy to see which was which, between the hardware upgrades and the mud stains.

“ _Miii krhhhhhhhhEEEkrhhhhhEEEkrhhh inginging_ ,” the new Robo said. 

“ _Krrrhhhhhh_ m _eedlemeedlemeedle,_ ” replied the old Robo.

“ _Inging_ -oh! Hello, Miss Lucca. Robo and I were just discussing the reforestation.” New Robo’s eyes glowed — literally, since it was dark, but also with clear pleasure. “It has been such a long time since I had a good conversation about the finer points of tree growth and soil management.”

Old Robo inclined his head. “And Robo has graciously provided me with weather data.”

“You two knock yourselves out,” Lucca said, feeling a bit like she’d intruded. “I’m going to get something more to eat.”

She did, more for something to do than anything else, but that didn’t occupy her very long. Tired of wandering, or perhaps just tired, Lucca sat down on the edge of things, near one of the smaller fires. She took off her helmet, letting the warmth seep through to her scalp. It was soothing, being near her element. 

She was starting to doze off again when — once more — she found herself woken by Marle.

“Lucca! There you are. I wanted to thank you.” Marle sat down next to her. She tucked up her knees, hugging them to her chest. “You know, when I said I hoped everyone could be at my birthday… I didn’t really expect it would be _everyone_ -everyone. I know that must’ve taken a lot of work for you. So.” She ducked her head, shyly, then brushed loose hairs out of her face. “Thanks. It made me really happy.”

“You’re welcome.” Lucca fidgeted awkwardly with her helmet, which was still in her lap. “I just… wanted you to have a nice birthday. So. I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“Are you having fun? I’m surprised to see you sitting out here, away from everyone. You’d normally be in the middle of things, egging people on and being ridiculous.” 

“I…” Lucca was extremely aware of how close Marle was sitting. At this distance, and against the night’s chill, she was warmer than the campfire. Marle was sitting right next to her, and the firelight shone off her hair and her cute smile and she hadn’t fallen for any of the other girls after all and oh right she’d asked Lucca a question. “I’m fine! Really. Just… staring into the fire because it’s fascinating, really, the chemical processes of combustion and-”

“You’re a bad liar.” Marle laughed as she said it. “But I’ve figured it out. I know what you’ve been doing.”

“Er. You do?” Wait, help, what _was_ Lucca doing that Marle would’ve figured out? Getting everyone to come to the party was no longer a surprise.

“You’re hoping I’ll fall for someone from another time, so I won’t be so stubborn about staying in Guardia when Porre invades in three years.”

Lucca’s jaw dropped open. “I… yes, but — wait, how did you _know_ , Robo gave me a memory chip, but you have no way to read them, so-”

Marle reached into the pocket of her vest and pulled out small book. It looked a lot like the one she’d been carrying at the ceremony, except yellowed and battered. She tapped it in an open palm and grinned. “Didn’t need a memory chip reader.” 

Lucca stared, stunned. “Robo gave you a whole encyclopedia?”

“He gave me my diary. Well, future me’s diary. Who I won’t be becoming. So maybe it’s alternate future me?” Marle’s brow furrowed, then she shook her head. “Whatever. The point is. I know why I — why _Queen Nadia_ stayed when Porre invaded, instead of escaping to safety. But I also know a lot of what happened before that. And I think that’s actually more important.”

“The encyclopedia said it was due to your dedication to your kingdom and your… husband.” There. She’d said it.

But Marle was shaking her head. “It’s because the king was staying, and Queen Nadia felt… guilty, I guess. Because it was her fault that he was king, and felt he had to stay.”

“The articles didn’t give his name,” Lucca said, slowly. “Just King Guardia the XXXIV. Was it C-”

Marle put a finger to Lucca’s lips. Lucca squeaked and went silent. She wasn’t sure she was even still breathing.

“It doesn’t matter who it was — I’ve already decided I’m not going to marry him,” Marle said, firmly, withdrawing her hand. Lucca started breathing again. “Being king made him miserable — all the formality, all the rules. And no matter how good a job you do, someone’s going to be upset with you and the decisions you make. Sometimes there’s just no good choices. He couldn’t take not being able to fix everything for everyone.”

“You hate all the formality and rules, too,” Lucca said. “Don’t you?”

Marle smiled. “Not as much as he did, but yeah. So it’s no surprise that Queen Nadia was miserable, too.” Marle leaned back, gazing up at the prehistoric stars above them. “She thought that, okay, I had my adventure, but my kingdom needs me to settle down now. It’s time to grow up and be the queen everyone wants me to be. But that suffocated her. And her king.”

Lucca swallowed. “That’s what you said at the ceremony, though. You’d become the queen that everyone wants you to be.”

Marle shook her head. “I swore to be the queen everyone _needs_ me to be. And that includes me. I’m going to be Queen Marle, not Nadia. And I have - oh, a million ideas of things I want to change, about how things work. So that I can be a Queen and still be myself. And so I can keep Porre from invading, too, I guess.” She laughed, a little awkwardly. “I guess that’s important too. But for all of that, I need help.” She sat up straight and took both of Lucca’s hands in hers. “So. Lucca. Will you help me make Guardia a better kingdom for everyone?”

“Of course,” Lucca said immediately. That was easy. Of course she’d help Marle. Granted, she’d promise Marle anything, right now, with her warm hands holding Lucca’s, and her face shining in the firelight, and her face so, so very close to Lucca’s own.

Marle’s eyes flickered across Lucca’s face, but she didn’t say anything.

“So…” Lucca said, finally, breaking the silence. “You’re part of everyone, right? That we need to make Guardia a better kingdom for, I mean.”

“Yeah.” 

“And…. I’m part of everyone, too. I hope.”

“You definitely are.”

“So. Um.” Lucca licked her lips. “One more question. Would you be my g-”

Marle leaned in and kissed her.

**Author's Note:**

> Many, many thanks to my betas Lirillith, Night Mistress, and Fairyring, without any of whom this fic would in a very different place!


End file.
